‘Timely care must be given to children with hearing impairment’

Stating that 18.6 per cent of the state’s population suffers from hearing impairment, Dr R Jayanthi, Dean of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), said, “The Institute of Speech and Hearing (ISH) in the hospital sees around 140 to 150 cases a day, proving how rampant the conditions are.”

Stressing on the importance of screening during early childhood, M Kirubakaran, a speech and hearing therapist said, “It is critical because hearing loss is an invisible condition. Between birth and the age of five, the incidence of hearing loss tends to double.”

“Even if a new born has passed the hearing test at birth, the baby could develop progressive hearing loss. Therefore, we keep stressing on the need for parents to take their children for early childhood programs, such as Early Head Start,” he added.

As hearing loss is invisible, it can easily go undetected, he stressed, adding, “If procedures are not put into place to assist the child, it could affect his language, emotional, and cognitive development negatively.”

While these programmes help in detecting hearing impairment at a very young age, it also helps doctors provide timely and appropriate intervention services before it is too late.

“If it is not treated, these deficits can lead to adult issues such as reduced socio-economic status, poor socialisation skills, depression and the like,” he added.

Dr Jajanti said that in the case of speech disorder, therapy is given at their Institute for children with such disorders.

She added, “Children with Autism, Intellectual Disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Stuttering and the like are provided the required therapy by psychologists at an early stage.”